Lightweighting Shines In Europe

Impact on climate change will be the biggest fallout from Donald Trump’s efforts to unwind strict federal limits on greenhouse gas emissions that would have required vehicles to achieve more than 50 miles per gallon on average by 2025.

Another impact will be on advanced plastics manufacturing capabilities in the United States. Efforts to develop improved lightweight composite structures for cars was already more in advanced in Europe than the United States.

Automotive composite technology is advancing faster in Europe than the U.S. (Lanxess)

There is clear danger that America will slip even further behind as a result of EPA rule changes.

In one example, there seemed to be significant energy and technology in the area of lightweighting at the International Congress of Plastics In Automotive Engineering (VDI Conference) held March 29-30 in Mannheim, Germany. Technical focus in the United States seems to be on muscle, talking cars and new levels of glitz—and that was even before the Trump presidency.